Secret Invasion Reminds Us How Little We Know About Nick Fury
Marvel’s new series dives deep into its characters in episode 2.
Marvel’s Secret Invasion has been touted as a simmering spy thriller, but its first episode was a bit light on the thrills. Save for its final scene, which saw Skrull General Gravik (Kingsley Ben-Adir) launch a devastating attack in Moscow, Secret Invasion felt like more of a character study than anything else. Of course, when your main character is none other than Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
The Secret Invasion series premiere saw Nick Fury coming to terms with his own dwindling relevance. After years building Earth’s new defense in space — and conveniently forgetting the 30-year-old promise he made to the Skrulls back in Captain Marvel — he’s suddenly earned the ire of the shapeshifting aliens. By the end of Episode 1, Fury finds himself right in the middle of Gravik’s scheme to conquer the Earth for the Skrull Empire. Now, Fury’s on the run, and inadvertently burning every bridge he spent the past few decades building.
Major spoilers ahead for the second episode of Secret Invasion.
Rhodey returns for a tough talk with Nick Fury.
In Episode 2, James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle) arrives in Russia as a liaison to the U.S. President, hoping to clean up Fury’s apparent mess. He meets up with Fury and demands that he stands down — which obviously isn’t happening — and by the end of their heated exchange, Fury’s pretty much public enemy #1.
Things get similarly messy with Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), Fury’s last ally on the Skrull front. Through him, Fury learns that there are quite a few more Skrulls on Earth than the scrappy band of refugees we first met in Captain Marvel. It seems like Talos was just as tired of looking for a new home as Gravik, so he summoned the remaining Skrull diaspora to Earth. He’s got no idea how many Skrulls are now living amongst humans. It’s nice that he finally came clean, but the trust between him and Fury is now broken — perhaps irrevocably — and that leaves Fury without any allies to turn to. Or so we think.
What happens at the end of Secret Invasion Episode 2?
Sonya Falsworth gets up to some mischief with a Skrull captive.
With Fury on the run, MI6 agent Sonya Falsworth (Olivia Colman) takes up the task of uncovering the Skrull conspiracy. She gets dangerously close to locating Gravik’s secret base, too — but Gravik’s still one step ahead. He does have to sacrifice a few of his loyal soldiers in the interest of privacy, but that’s probably what makes him such a formidable rebel leader.
Watching Gravik thin out his ranks without a second’s hesitation is definitely chilling — but it’s not the only shock that Secret Invasion delivers before the credits roll. In the final scene of Episode 2, we catch up with Fury, who’s made his way to a secluded safe house. There, he meets up with a yet-unnamed Skrull woman (played by Charlayne Woodard) — and after slipping on a wedding ring, he and the two share a kiss.
Fury’s closer to the Skrulls than we thought
Is it weird to imagine Fury with a significant other? Definitely, but it’s not like he hasn’t mentioned having a wife before. When Fury turned up at Steve Rogers’ (Chris Evans) apartment in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, he uses a spat with his wife as an excuse to crash on Cap’s couch. Of course, Fury had a more pressing reason for seeking him out: he’d just been attacked by Hydra operatives, and nearly killed by the Winter Soldier, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan). Given the fact that S.H.I.E.L.D. was compromised and Hydra agents could have been listening to their exchange, most assumed Fury was fudging details about his personal life.
Ten years later, however, Marvel is finally picking up that thread in a major way. Not only is Fury apparently in a committed relationship, but he’s married to a Skrull. This same woman was seen helping Talos, Fury, and the other Skrull refugees at the top of the episode. More than that, she’s the one that introduced Fury to a young Gravik, so her role in the cold war between humans and Skrull is not one to be taken lightly.
